Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has assured farmers in the country of the regulator’s support that will revolutionise the tomatoes production through the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).
Impressed by the potentials for the production of fresh tomatoes and allied products and the commitment of the stakeholders in the value chain in Kano State alone, Emefiele expressed optimism that another revolution, similar to what was recorded in the production of rice, was about to occur in that produce.
In its last meeting on November 21, 2018, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recommended that the ABP be applied to other areas such as palm oil, tomatoes and fisheries, among others.
The CBN governor, while speaking at a facility tour of Dangote Tomato Processing Factory and farms in Kadawa, Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State, noted that from what had seen in Kadawa, he could rightly state that Dangote Tomato Plant was the only real processing plant in Nigeria for now, unlike others that were merely importing tomato puree and concentrates and packaging same.
He said the initial challenges encountered by the project had been overcome with the acquisition of the greenhouses for the production of high yield seedlings with the collaboration of the CBN.
Emefiele therefore expressed delight that “with the initial daily production of a million tomato nurseries alone, more people would be encouraged to embrace farming thereby creating jobs for our people along the entire value chain and reverse the exportation of jobs.”
He also said that going by the brief he got from chairman of Dangote Farms, Sani Dangote, “when the factory become fully operational, the country would not only be self-sufficient in tomato production in the next one year but will also be able to export to other African countries in the next three years.”
While assuring tomato farmers of all the necessary support with the formal take off Anchor Borrowers Programme for tomato production as a result of the off-taker arrangement with Dangote Factory, he used the opportunity to call on well-meaning individual to come out and support the efforts of the Bank to create jobs in Nigeria.
On his part, minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbe, assured the farmers that with the firm commitment by CBN, he could only assure the farmers that “better days are here,” assuring the farmers of protective policies that might include inclusion of tomato in the import prohibition list.
Nasir Yusuf Gauna, deputy governor of Kano State, in his remark at the facility tour, said the state had really keyed into large-scale agricultural production by partnering Dangote Farms by way of rendering all necessary assistance for the take-off of the project.
According to the deputy governor, the state government has also been subsidising farming activities in several ways.
On his part, the chairman of Dangote Farms, Sani Dangote expressed the readiness of the company to produce about one million seedlings daily in addition to processing enough for domestic consumption provided there are right policies in place including restriction on importation of tomato puree.
The Kano state Governor, Umar Ganduje had during a courtesy visit by the CBN Governor and the Agriculture Minister, enumerated various incentives offered to farmers in the state in terms of land, irrigation facilities, pesticides and resuscitation of the moribund fertilizer plant which has now adequately catered for the farmers needs all year round.
Ganduje also called for synergy among the stakeholders and agencies of government towards achieving the desired results of repositioning agriculture as wealth creating endeavours.
Representatives of the tomato farmers in the area were resolute in calling on the government to expeditiously put in place some fiscal measures in place to protect local farmers.
According to the coalition of farmers there is urgent to safeguard investments by restricting importation of tomato puree among other agricultural produce into the country.
